Breaking a Sweat

I recently traveled to Nashville, TN for a conference. I considered participating in the conference sponsored 5K, but decided not to add it to my plate since I would be presenting two sessions. I did, however, want to get some exercise. So I headed to the gym at a leisurely mid-morning time and hopped on one of what seemed like way too many treadmills.

I didn't go for speed, instead trying to just do my time. I don't know how I'm going to get rid of that tightness that my right hip gets when I don't run regularly, but until I do get rid of it, I have to run at least once a week. My normal run day has been Tuesday, but I doubted I would have time for running on that day, the last full day of the conference.

As I ran, I felt the humidity of the place envelope me. I wanted more air conditioning, some fans, some ice dumped on my head... but I just got hotter and hotter, soaked with sweat and aching with an unexpected fatigue. Even so, after I finished, I went to the Smith machine and worked on trying to do pull up negatives. I'm better, for now, at chin up negatives, but I could use work on both.

I also managed to make it to the workout center early Monday morning, but not early enough. The overabundance of treadmills were all occupied at 6:10 in the morning. I snagged one after a few minutes of waiting, but didn't run. I may have been just the teensiest bit hungover. So I upped the incline as high as it would go and kept my pace between 3 and 4 miles per hour. A fast hiking pace.

I admit, I had to laugh at the man next to me. He was scoffing the suggestion that patrons limit their cardio machine time to 30 minutes as a courtesy to others. When I left, he was still walking and getting close to 60 minutes. But the funny part was that he was walking on the flat, and I, in half the time, burned nearly as many calories by using the power of the incline.

Other than copious amounts of walking, including stairs and occasional speed walking, that's all the exercise I got done during my conference. And, once home, I was too tired even to do Crossfit Friday morning as I had planned. Clearly, in the future, I need to plan these conferences a little better - both in regards to blogs and exercise.